Cllr. Gino Kenny was surprised to discover that his local council was in possession of Irish Water bills which contained addresses of local authority tenants. The envelopes were addressed to South Dublin County Council C/O of the Finance Department.

Over a thousand bills were discovered in the headquarters of South Dublin County Council. They had a sender’s address as coming from the Finance Department of South Dublin County Council.

In a statement, Gino Kenny said,

“As an elected representative I was surprised to discover plans to demand payment of water charges bills coming from the Finance department of my local council. There is questions to be asked in why Irish Water is sending council’s tenant’s addresses on Irish Water bills back to South Dublin County Council via the finance Department. The council’s role is not to act as a debt collector for a private utility. They should not be using their position as a social landlord to have any dealings with the entity that is Irish Water”.

‘This incident also raises a serious case of discrimination against local authority tenants. They are being treated differently to other groupings because their landlords are engaging with a private utility. 
‘I am calling on Irish Water to offer an explanation in why these bills were printed up in the name of South Dublin County Council, and give a full explanation”